FIFA: Road to World Cup 98 is a 1997 football video game developed by EA Canada and released by EA Sports. It is the fifth game in the FIFA series and the second to be in 3D on the fifth generation of video game consoles. A number of different players were featured on the cover, including David Beckham in the UK, Roy Lassiter in the United States, Mexico and Brazil, David Ginola in France, Raúl in Spain and Portugal, Paolo Maldini in Italy, and Andreas Möller in Germany. Critics responded positively to FIFA 98, hailing it as a strong return to form for the series. FIFA 98 was the last FIFA game released for the Sega Mega Drive, Sega Saturn, and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES).
Game features
thumb|left|The player on opponent's [[penalty area (PS1 version)]]
The game includes an official soundtrack, team and player customisation options, 16 stadiums, improved artificial intelligence and the Road to World Cup mode, with all 172 FIFA-registered national teams that took part in qualification for the 1998 FIFA World Cup (including Brazil and France, who qualified for the tournament automatically as holders and hosts respectively). No subsequent edition of the FIFA series attempted to replicate FIFA 98s inclusion of every FIFA national team, until 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, which included all 199 FIFA nations that took part in qualifying. Players have individual faces.
FIFA 98 features many accurate team rosters, including national reserves for national call-up when playing in the round-robin qualification modes. In addition, 11 leagues are featured, containing 189 clubs. The game also features a five-a-side indoor mode and was the first FIFA game to contain an in-game player/team editor.
For the first time in a FIFA game, the offside rule is properly implemented. In previous games, when a player was in an offside position doing anything except running, that player was penalised for offside even when the ball was passed backwards. The Windows, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and Saturn versions of FIFA 98 correct this so that the game only awards a free kick for offside if the ball is passed roughly to where the player in the offside position is.
Soundtrack
The theme music for the game was Blur's "Song 2". Four songs from The Crystal Method are included – "Keep Hope Alive" and "Busy Child" off their debut album Vegas, their debut single "Now Is the Time", and original "More" – as well as a song by the Los Angeles-based project Electric Skychurch entitled "Hugga Bear". Des Lynam was retained for the game introduction and John Motson and Andy Gray remained as match commentators.
Development
The game was built on the FIFA '97 engine. David Ginola served as the game's motion capture actor.<br />7.25/10 (PS1)<br />6.6/10 (SAT)
| GSpot = 8.5/10 (N64)<br />7.8/10 (SAT)
| IGN = 7.7/10 (N64)
| N64 = 83% (N64)
| NGen = 4/5 (N64)
| rev2 = Sega Saturn Magazine
| rev2Score = 58% (SAT)
FIFA: Road to World Cup 98 was positively received. Though widely regarded as still inferior to International Superstar Soccer 64, Moreover, a few reviewers said that the game's extensive licensing of real players and teams was a strong advantage over International Superstar Soccer 64 which, though not enough to make it an overall better game, was a compelling enough reason for soccer fans to get both games. GamePro disagreed with the majority comparison to International Superstar Soccer 64, assessing FIFA 98 as "a super-fun title, easily topping International Superstar Soccer 64 in overall gameplay."
Other common subjects of critical praise were the accuracy and variation in the play-by-play commentary, At the 1999 Milia festival in Cannes, it took home a "Gold" prize for revenues above €37 million in the European Union during the previous year.
The game was the winner for "PC Sports Game of the Year" at the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' inaugural Interactive Achievement Awards (now known as the D.I.C.E. Awards).
During the game's 20th anniversary in 2017, Luke Plunkett of Kotaku wrote an essay arguing that FIFA 98 should be considered as the best sports video game of all time, focusing on its then-unprecedented depth and breadth of content, which Plunkett contended is the main differentiating factor between titles within the highly incremental sports video gaming industry. Examples cited were its inclusion of all FIFA national teams of the time, customization options for rosters and kits, multiple game modes, and groundbreaking soundtrack including licensed rather than original music.